Kenyan Designers Turn Second-Hand Clothes into High-Fashion Runway Hits

In the bustling heart of Nairobi’s Gikomba market, models strutted down a makeshift runway last week, showcasing bold, upcycled outfits crafted from discarded clothes and market cast-offs. The event, dubbed Gikomba Runway Edition, brought together young Kenyan designers, including 25-year-old upcycling specialist Morgan Azedy, who transformed old denim and leather scraps into avant-garde streetwear with a gothic flair. “I always see the environment around me dirty… I wanted to control pollution,” Azedy said, highlighting his mission to combine creativity with sustainability.

Kenya has emerged as Africa’s largest importer of second-hand clothing, overtaking Nigeria in 2023, with around 197,000 tonnes worth $298 million arriving from Europe, the US, and beyond. While this trade provides affordable clothing and employment for thousands across East Africa, a significant portion ends up in landfills, causing environmental concerns. Designers like Olwande Akoth have often found the poor quality of these bales disheartening, calling much of it “just garbage.”

For Azedy, however, these discarded materials are a creative goldmine. His collection, Kenyan Raw, has already earned him a spot at Berlin Fashion Week, and he dreams of taking his repurposed designs to New York and Paris. By turning waste into wearable art, he and other up-and-coming Kenyan designers are proving that even trash can dazzle, merging fashion innovation with environmental consciousness.

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